Bridle Trails 50k Race Report

Going into this race I was a bit nervous, having only run one 12 mile and one 5 mile run since my last 50k on December 19th. Well, physically I was nervous. Mentally I was more psyched than ever just to be running in lovely Seattle! New part of the country, beautiful spruce forests, and currenty the warmest place in the country. So I made it my goal to set a new PR for myself (under 5:02:39) and to come in at a higher place than my last race , the Seashore Nature Trail 50k.

The race was scheduled to start at 3 pm but ended up starting a bit late. They started the 5 mile race at 3:05, the 10 mile at 3:10 and the 50k relay, pair, and solo at 3:18. Being a horse park and so close to the ocean and lakes, I was not expecting the Bridle Trails State Park to have any hills at all. Boy was I wrong. About half a mile into the race, we went straight up for about 100 yards. At this point I was running in the lead pack with three other guys that were on relay teams and passing people from the 5 mile and 10 mile race about every fifteen feet. After about 3 miles I decided to back off their pace a bit as I knew that they had to only do 1 lap each while I had to do 6 laps of the 5.2 mile loop. All in all I still ran the first two laps very fast, as a lot of people from the 10 mile race were on the course I would just make it my goal to keep catching the next one in front of me.

Halfway through lap 3 the course started getting dark, and rather than using my head lamp I tried to let my eyes acclamate to the dark. This worked just until the end of the lap and I threw my headlamp on starting lap 4. Lap 4 was when the cramps really started to hit. Having not done much training in general for this race and in addition NO elevation training, the hills were starting to strain my muscles quite a bit. The downhills irritating my vastus medialis (one of the four muscles of the quadricep) and the uphills irritating my semitendinosus (part of the hamstring) and my gastrocnemius (calf muscle).




















Lap 4 and 5 were a mixture between some really hardcore powerwalking (I'm talking arms swinging, I should probably have been wearing a neon jumpsuit and a headband powerwalking) and trying to run but failing every 300 yards because my muscles would tense up again. So finally I decided to walk it out for almost all of lap 5 so I could hopefully run some of lap 6 and still get my goal of my PR and rank.

Finishing lap 5 I had about one hour to complete the last 5.2 mile loop which would be possible, but I would have to run some. Noticing that my cramping was coming from mostly the uphills and downhills I decided to run all the flat sections on lap 6. This proved effective and I could run just about half of the loop. All in all I came in 18th place with a time of 4 hours 50 minutes, hitting both goals! Bridle Trails I would say has to be one of the most beautiful courses I have run on and although it was a loop (which tend to get boring), the single track trail, surrounding environment and plant life had my mind fully captivated throughout the race, so cheers to the Seattle Running Company for holding a great ultra!

Totals on the Day -
Miles - 31.1 miles
Time - 4 hours 50 mins
Song - Ozone - Dragostea Din Tei
Shoutout - Steph Stepanchick! for coming to watch! So good to see you and I hope your feet have warmed up by the time you read this.

Totals on the day -
Miles = 5
Time = 37 mins 39 secs
Shoutout = Anyone who gets on the treadmill and turns it up to 13 mph and runs for 30 seconds then turns it off and walks out

Go Green!

So I ran into a bit of a problem today. I promised my bosses that I would go into work to deliver 4 flower arrangements. Then I realized, I probably wouldn't even be working a whole hour because I only had to drive to two places for these 4 arrangements. Living 15 minutes (12 miles) away from work I realized the amount of money I would spend on gas getting there and back would be equal to or less than the amount of money I would make at work. DILEMNA.

The quick solution -

Thought 1) My sister and Mark are driving to town at 11 AM.
Thought 2) I have a ride to town.
Thought 3) I need a ride back from town.
Thought 4) I have 2 legs and a pair of shoes.
Thought 5) Run!
Thought 6) Go Green and less carbon emissions!
Thought 7) Stop global warming!
Thought 8) Save the world!
Thought 9) Utopian society where LOOOVEE replaces all the bad things in the world.
Thought 10) Lets be realistic, back to thought 6.

Ended up having an excellent run home from town which started out a bit rough but once I found my groove it was a breeze. The temperature was around 40 and I was drinking pedialyte and water to hydrate as well as wearing a long sleeve shirt and shorts. It couldn't have felt better!

Totals on the Day:
Miles - 12.07
Time - 1 hour 33 minutes
Shoutout - Lets give it up forrrr the inventors of canned dog food.

Seashore Nature Trail 50k

Caution: If you get uneasy about nasty weather conditions, please read no further.

Race Report:
It's Wednesday the 16th and the forecast for Virginia Beach says 46 degrees and sunny, perfect!

It's Thursday the 17th and the forecast for Virginia Beach says 42 degrees and rainy.

Its Friday the 18th and the forecast for Virginia Beach says 39 degrees and rain/snow.

It's Saturday the 19th, we have been running for 5 hours in the rain and mud, the temperature has dropped from 49 to 35 degrees.

Going into the Seashorne Nature Trail 50k I expected to be cold, I just didn't know how cold. Feeling slightly unprepared with the nature of my gear (such as a cotton shirt) I tried to stay on the positive side and use the cold to help me run faster to stay warm.

To emphasize a bit on the weather we can start with the sheer numbers of people that decided to race. The entry cap on the race was 250 people. 244 people payed seventy dollars to run. 190 people showed up to packet pickup. 160 people started the race at 7:30 AM. 148 people finished the race.

Getting out of Lisa's car was probably the hardest part of the morning, Alex and I stretched for about 5 minutes in the car until about 7:20 and with barely any warm up at all, we toed the start line. I started fast, as usual but due to a change in the course route the night before the race, none of the turns or trails were marked....so 0.5 miles into the race and leading the pack I missed the first turn only too see everyone running off into the woods about 20 seconds later so I had a slight adventure through the woods to get back on track. So....off to a good start.

The next 3.5 miles of the course was a trail through the woods.
The next 3.5 miles of the course was a muddy trail through the woods.
The next 3.5 miles of the course was a muddy, wet, dirty trail through the woods.
The next 3.5 miles of the course was a muddy, wet, dirty, spawn of satan trail through the woods.

Following this section we had 1.5 miles on the road which picked up the pace quite a bit with the solid terrain. At the end of the road section was the end of the first of six (5 mile loops). So back down the road and back through the muddy, wet, dirty, spawn of satan trail through the woods and we were done with ten miles.

Lets think, 160 people running down the same trail each 6 times = 960 people running across a given point. To answer your question, YES the trail did get worse, muddier, wetter, dirtier, and actually just turned into the devil himself.

It just so happens that the paved 1.5 mile section of road was right next to the bay. The first out and back on this section was great, getting off the muddy trail was a wonder and paces increased. The second out and back on this section got some people wondering, coming around the last bend before the turnaround there was a 100 yard section of the road covered ankle deep in water.....oh right....the bay....is effected by the tides. Looking forward to out and back #3!

20.5 miles into the race starting loop 3 (Race time= 2 hours 47 minutes) is when things started going downhill, the temperature had been decreasing steadily throughout the race, the rain was picking up, and ......then I got leg cramps. After multiple attempts at trying to run, I decided to just walk out most of the rest of the race. Was this because I didn't replenish my electrolytes?? Possibly, but after seeing that the first place guy was now walking and cramped up along with multiple others I concluded that it was a result of the cold weather and rain/not having the appropriate gear. Approaching the paved section on loop 3, I saw 5 runners splashing knee deep (waist deep on some!) through the 100 yard section of road. The tide had come in and now we had to make two passes of this ice cold water (ice cold to the point I thought I would cramp up just walking through it and fall over and have to crawl out).

I walked the last ten miles at about a 4.5 mph pace and finished up in 5:02:39. 18th pace in the 1-39 age group and 38th place overall. There was a professional photography company taking pictures at the race so take a look at them here. If you click on the blue link on the side that says Event Photos, then on 2009 Photos, then on Seashore Nature Trail 50k, you can type in a bib number to find photos. My bib number was 227.

Totals on the day:
Miles = 31.07
Time = 5:02:39
Shoutouts - Alex, for finishing his first ultra and being a trooper
Lisa, for being an awesome support crew, can't wait till you run one with us!

Oh yeah.....we have to wake up early

So the Seashore Nature Trail 50k starts at 7:30 AM. So I say last night, "I'm going to wake up at 6:45 and run for an hour before breakfast." Oh it all sounded so simple last night. Well I woke up and it was freezing, running to the gym was essentially shoe skiing across black ice.

So at the gym "alright lets run 9 miles an hour for one hour...ok...lets just do 8 miles an hour its early. Well...here we are 20 minutes in...lets just walk for a bit, its early. Ok 30 minutes, lets run again pick it up...40 minutes..ok lets walk, IT'S EARLY!

All in all I had a wopping day of 6.5 miles in 57 minutes. Next went do D2 breakfast, and fell asleep for thirty minutes with my head next to my plate of pancakes. So I learned my lesson, train your body to be awake for the time you are racing. We'll see how it goes on Saturday.

Totals on the day -
Miles- 6.5
Time - 57 minutes
Shoutout - The only other person at the gym at 7 AM, whoever you are.
Lesson - Wake up before you run.

Training Brek

Having a hard time looking at this picture, maybe breakfast this morning will explain why. . . .

2 cups OJ
2 sausage links
3 pieces of bacon
1 Blueberry French Toast Souffle
1 scoop cinnamon apples
10 hard boiled eggs (only the white protein part, don't worry health nuts!)

I suppose you could say...training has started.



Totals on the day:
Miles - 8.00
Time - 59:39

I'll take that!

So as soon as I vouch to stop running on the treadmill so much, guess where I end up today? On the treadmill, ohhhh you know just for a quick little jog. It was one of those days that I woke up and felt like I had to run very far which is great because those are the days that you go running and your 12 miles in and you feel like its been 10 minutes.

The first hour all I listened to was my newly discovered song claiming Billboards Number 95 in the year 1996. Back for Good by Take That. Next hour, listened to the Black Eyed Peas - Where is the Love on repeat. So 2 hours in and at 14.7 miles I was feeling great and kept going without any breaks until 20.7 miles with a time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. Well the last few miles were the roughest and I decided to stop at 25 on the day.

As nervous as I'm getting for the upcoming Seashore Nature Trail 50k, today reinforced some confidence that I can meet my goal of having a sub 4 hour finish.

Totals on the day -
Miles = 25
Time = 3 hours 27 minutes
Song - Take That - Back for Good
Shoutout - The girl who helped Alex and I out by getting us some water when we ran out, she saved us!

Huckleberry

First time running down the Huckleberry in a while and I almost forgot how great it is. Alex and I ran out to the mall and then back down 460, stopped the run a little short to eat. Oh yeah...I almost forgot the race is in ...16 days....boom goes the dynamite.

Miles on the day: 11.2

Time: 1 hour 45 mins

Shoutout goes to everyone who can do the googly eye

I'll be back

Today I think I decided I'm done running on the treadmill so much and that I'm going back to the Florida Keys this May for a second go.

Miles on the Day: 10 miles

Time - 92 minutes

A Little Side Trip

So on the way back from a most triumphant Thanksgiving dinner at Alex's moms house in Newport News I was dreading the drive back to Blacksburg, until I got an idea. My old boarding school, The Miller School of Albermarle, was right about halfway. Being a day that I needed to go for a run I stopped in and it was beautiful out, not to mention all the kids and faculty were on break so it was completely empty!

After fueling up on some Crozet Pizza, I thought it only appropriate to attack what I consider one of the hardest yet most beautiful cross country courses in Virginia after all this was the grounds where all of my running madness started. It was no easier than the first time I ever did it in Buz's famous Steak Race. I'm pretty sure I only did one mile at a a time and when I got to the two mile mark (where this photo was taken) I layed on the grass for about 5 minutes.

So maybe my little side trip was more of reminiscing time than training but regardless, what a perfect stop. Oh...and for you folks that come down 64 west to get to VT, get off on the Miller School exit one time and check out this great little store about 0.5 miles off the exit (to the left if your going to VT, to the right if your going back from VT). It's called Greenwood Gourmet Grocery . My last trip there i bought Dandelion and Burdock juice!!! AHHH ..i wouldn't recommend it but one drink that is really good is the Cricket Cola w/ Green Tea!

Miles - 3.1

Time - Who even knows

Shoutout - Mr. Spivey!